Guardians of San Fransokyo
by nanasawayuri
Summary: Hiro and his friends are the guardians of San Fransokyo. A power-hungry bot fighter plants a chip in Baymax that allows him to control the machine. Baymax leaves Hiro and he struggles to cope with the absence of his friend. The group devises a plan to retrieve their companion while also developing feelings for each other.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Hiro Hamada: college graduate, an achievement he was proud of and if his brother had lived, he would be proud too. Hiro stood with the rest of his friends as their ceremony was coming to an end. The valedictorian finished the speech as everyone cheered and threw their graduation caps high into the air. Hiro threw his cap high and watched for it as hundreds of other caps were raining down around him. His hand touched a cap and he looked at it. His cap was ordinary, but this cap was decorative. The top of the cap had a yellow circle and the tassel was braided. He looked to the woman next to him, knowing already exactly who it belonged to. Gogo looked up at him, smiling. He grinned back, marveling in the fact that he was finally taller than her, and happily traded caps with her. Fred stood to his left taking his phone out for a selfie. Fred put his arm around Hiro as Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon all leaned in for the picture.

A month after their graduation, Gogo sat on a stool in Hiro's garage as she examined her wheels. _Still not fast enough_ , she thought to herself. She slumped her shoulders and let out an audible sigh pulling the attention of Hiro.

"Let me guess, still not fast enough?" Hiro's voice came behind her.

She hid her smile from him as she sat up straighter. She flung her wheel towards her bike and it attached with a _fling_ and slowly spun to a stop. Hiro walked over to her bike and continued the wheel on its rotation.

They had worked tirelessly in his garage for months after the lab at the school blew up from an armature's experiment. Everyone seemed to gravitate to Hiro as he was their fearless leader, even if he was a couple years younger than everyone. Gogo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon and finalized their senior projects in Hiro's garage while Fred sat on the sidelines cheering for the group to finish.

Hiro's senior project was completing Baymax, making final improvements for his brother's project. Baymax's database was maxed out with information to help people. Hiro always found small details that were relevant to Baymax's programming. His project had been a success, but Baymax was much more than a _project_ to Hiro. They were companions and the best of friends. Baymax always reminded him of his brother and Hiro felt a deep love for the machine and Hiro kept him on all day, charging his batteries at night. Baymax appeared very popular to the medical professionals, so Hiro volunteered Baymax's services at a nearby health clinic during the day.

Gogo directed her attention toward Baymax where he stood quietly charging his batteries.

"How's Baymax doing at the clinic?" Gogo asked changing the subject off her bike.

"He's helping so many people. Tadashi would have been so proud," Hiro said a bit sad.

Gogo smiled sympathetically at Hiro. "He was proud," she said quietly.

Tadashi was her best friend and she missed him dearly. At one point, she felt _something_ with him as he did with her. They had come so close to almost sharing their feelings with each other when they were interrupted. They had been late in the lab working on their projects and Gogo was helping Tadashi build Baymax's skeleton when she accidentally let her screwdriver slip and it pierced her finger. Tadashi was at her side immediately with ointment and a bandage and as he held her injured hand in his, their eyes locked, and as he softly let her name slip from his lips, Fred burst through the lab doors babbling about how he had forgotten his skateboard and noticed the pair sitting very closely. He then said something embarrassing to Tadashi and ran off with Tadashi chasing after him to silence him.

Hiro ceased the spinning of Gogo's wheel. She took note of his stillness as she stood and walked over to him.

"Have you tried using aluminum instead of steel?" Hiro questioned her with his hand still on the wheel.

"That was one of my first ideas, but it was too fragile to retain the shape. The magnets warped it," she replied.

Hiro smiled as he glanced down at her. Two great minds at work, still trying to process their ideas.

"Have you tried shaking it up?" Hiro asked.

"Shaking it up?" Gogo asked taking a step back and placing her hand on her hip.

Hiro grinned. He leaned toward her and quickly picked her up, one hand supporting he back, the other gripping her legs, and swung her upside down on his back. His brother had done this many times with him.

"Hiro! Stop! Put me down!" she yelled.

Hiro would not listen to her. Instead he started bouncing around his garage and spinning her around.

"You need a new angle!" he said to her.

"Hiro!" Gogo cried.

Finally Hiro stopped. His brother had done this many times with him. He wondered if he had done the same with her, but the way she grabbed for him made him think not. He smiled and slowly put her down.

"Did it work?" Hiro asked looking back at Gogo. She was on her back with her hips in the air and legs placed close to her neck. Her arms were sprawled on either side of her in an attempt to push herself upright. Hiro burst out in laughter at the sight of her.

Gogo blew her bangs out of her face with a frown.

"Just wait. I'm going to get you for that!" she said scrambling to sit upright.

Hiro composed himself and held out a hand to help her stand up. She grasped his extended hand and he pulled Gogo to her feet. He let out a small laugh and grasped her by both shoulders.

"So?" he asked.

"No. Of course that didn't work!" Gogo said, playfully shoving him away. "Ow!" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

Baymax activated from his charging station and stepped towards the pair before they could stop him.

"I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion. I was alerted that you need medical attention when you said the word 'Ow'. I will scan you now," Baymax said.

"No, Baymax, no need for a scan, I am fine," Gogo said holding out a hand to stop him.

"Scan complete," Baymax said.

 _Same old Baymax_ , Hiro thought to himself. He smiled as he watched Gogo and Baymax, wishing that life could stay like this forever.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Cass shook the bucket of chicken wings into her hot sauce as she watched the morning news. She always kept an eye on major events in the city for Hiro. Hiro had accidentally spilled the beans about his group's quest several years ago and how they had saved the city. Cass was so proud of her nephew and his friends that she would inform the group of activity in the city. They were currently over, chowing on Cass's famous chicken wings. The hot sauce seemed to only affect Cass as she had a very low tolerance for spice.

The news station changed to a breaking news page with a reporter in the middle of the screen standing in front of the National Bank. The banner on the bottom of the screen read "Bank Robbery".

"Ooo! Guys look at this!" Cass called from her spot in the kitchen.

"What is it Aunt Cass?" Hiro asked as the gang followed him over.

Cass turned up the volume as the reporter went about her story.

" _Many people are trapped inside as hostages. We do not know the number of robbers or exactly how many hostages are inside, but it is a Friday night and the bank would be crowded at this time. We have heard several gunshots fired already. The police chief is here with us on the scene as well as the fire department, who is standing by, waiting for news if there are any injured hostages. It looks like a waiting game right now,_ " the reporter finished before the camera flashed to a different angle of the bank.

"The National Bank huh?" Wasabi commented.

"Dude, are we going to save the day or what?!" Fred said excitedly.

"I don't know, this one seems kind of dangerous and big, what with guns and all," Honey Lemon chimed in.

"Fear not Honey Lemon! I will protect you," Fred teased making Honey Lemon blush.

"Hiro?" Gogo inquired.

Hiro glanced around at his friends. Crime fighting was nothing new to them and he knew they could handle themselves. They had all been training on the side for years now and they were a very effective team.

"Let's do this!" Hiro cheered.

His friends disbanded and reached for their packs. Gogo raced up the stairs claiming Hiro's room as her changing room. Honey Lemon and Fred took the guest bathroom and bedroom, and Wasabi threw on his shirt in the kitchen. He found his pants very comfortable and had no interest in removing them.

Hiro stuffed one last chicken wing in his mouth before heading up to his room, completely unaware that Gogo was currently changing into her outfit in his bedroom. He opened the door with wide eyes as he gazed upon Gogo's exposed backside. Her defining vertebrae disappeared into her pants and her shoulder blades popped out exposing her toned arms. Of course Hiro found her attractive as he looked at her back. He began to wonder what the rest of her looked like.

"Ah! Hiro!" Gogo said pulling her skintight shirt up to cover her chest as she turned aroung.

Hiro's face turned bright red. "I'm sorry!" he managed to say through his stuffed mouth.

"Get out now!" Gogo said pointing a finger to him to go back through his door.

"It's my room! You can't make me leave," Hiro said swallowing his chicken.

"Ugghh," Gogo complained. "Fine. Just don't look."

Hiro did a two finger salute to Gogo and headed for his closet. He opened the trunk on the floor and pulled out his outfit. He looked briefly at the rest of the contents in the trunk. His original suit and helmet were at the bottom, carefully folded away as they no longer fit. He no longer needed the suit and helmet as he modified Baymax's armor to respond to the human touch, so he wore a blue jacket with flexible pants and t-shirt. Honey Lemon had been working on developing more protective gear for him but her plans were interrupted when she accepted an offer from one of Alistair Krei's partners to continue developing her chem-balls. Everyone was very supportive of her, but Hiro's suit was pushed aside.

Hiro turned around and noticed that Gogo moved to change behind the divider that once separated Tadashi's side of the room from Hiro's. So he placed his outfit on the bed and began o change. He had just put his pants on when Gogo appeared behind the divider, catching Hiro in the same situation he had caught her. Her eyes widened with embarrassment and attraction as she gazed upon his exposed chest. His muscles had formed nicely, very defined by his slim figure, and he had grown very strong, practicing his own fighting moves should he ever become separated from Baymax in a fight.

Gogo's face turned cherry red as she reluctantly averted her eyes from Hiro. He noticed her discomfort and finished pulling his shirt and jacket on.

"I have to go get Baymax. Meet you there?" was all Hiro said.

Gogo nodded without looking directly at him.

"Everything alright?" Hiro asked stepping closer to her.

She finally looked up at him and the blush returned to her face when she noticed his proximity to her. She was fine. Right? _Everything is not fine!_ _This is Tadashi's little brother!_ She popped her bubblegum in Hiro's face to distract her thoughts.

"Yeah, you're alright!" Hiro said grinning. "Meet you at the bank!" he said as he ran downstairs leaving Gogo in his room stewing in her mind.

 _You do not like Hiro! You do not find him attractive with his shirt off!_

She tried to convince herself otherwise, but her mind kept replaying the image of his naked torso.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As seen on the television, police cars and firetrucks were already on the scene of the bank robbery when Gogo pulled the team into the area. She looked around as she pulled the keys out of the ignition. _No sign of Hiro yet. What's taking him so long?_

"What should we do? Hiro is not here yet?" Honey Lemon asked aloud.

"Fear not my lady," Fred started as he flipped his dragon head over his own and opened the back door of the van.

"No! Fred come back!" Honey Lemon shouted after him.

Gogo let out a heavy sigh and placed her chewing gum on the dashboard. "Wait here. I will bring him back. We don't move without Hiro," Gogo said opening her door.

Wasabi glanced back at Honey Lemon and shrugged his shoulders. Honey Lemon sighed. Fred was always rushing into things like this and she knew he did it to impress her. She was not blind to the hints Fred threw her way and his crush was growing on her. And it did not help that he ran into danger without back up, leaving her worrying in the van. She suddenly began to imagine her life without Fred. No more pestering for "science" stuff. No more nerd talk in his room. No more miraculous saves (by either Honey Lemon saving Fred or Fred saving Honey Lemon). No more team cheerleader. No more…Fred. She suddenly became very sad and hugged herself.

Wasabi and Honey Lemon turned their heads toward the bank as they heard two gun shots go off. Fear gripped Honey Lemon and her ears rang as she didn't realize that Wasabi was pulling her out of the car.

"We got to get in there and help them!" Wasabi was telling Honey Lemon.

Her hearing returned to normal and she glanced up at Wasabi. She shook her head and grabbed her bag of chem-balls.

"What about Hiro?" she asked.

"Guys!" Hiro and Baymax landed next to them. Honey Lemon felt relief as she saw their friend. "Where's Fred and Gogo?" Hiro asked looking around.

Honey Lemon sighed while Wasabi told Hiro about Fred trying to be a hero and the gunshots they just heard. Hiro's eyes widened and he glanced at the bank.

"Ok, let's go. But be careful, we don't want any innocents getting hurt," Hiro said to his friends.

Hiro, Baymax, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon walked up the steps to the massive bank. The blinds had been pulled on all the windows and the _smart_ architects who designed the building put massive, heavy wooden doors on the entrance.

"There's no way to look inside," Wasabi commented.

"Well, let's try the door," Hiro said gripping the handle of the door. As he started to pull it open a voice on a loud intercom interjected him.

" _Halt! Do not open that door if you want to see your friends alive!_ " the male voice said.

" _Hiro! Do as he says!_ " that was Gogo's voice.

Hiro lifted his hand off the handle and raised his hands in a surrender. He did not want to be the reason his friends got hurt.

"I just want to talk!" Hiro called out. He looked at the camera facing the door hoping that whoever was holding the bank hostage could see his surrendering pose.

" _We are talking_ ," the voice said.

Hiro let out an audible sigh, "How about talking face to face instead of shouting into nothing?"

" _Fine, but only you may enter_ ," the voice reluctantly said.

"Let me bring in my robot. He is a medical companion so he can tend to anyone who is injured," Hiro said glancing back at Baymax. He was a bit relieved that he didn't bring him suited up. He surely would have looked threatening. He just needed to get Baymax inside with him to spring a surprise.

The voice did not respond on the intercom. Instead, they heard a click on the door, which was the locking mechanism turning to an unlock position.

"Well, he didn't say no. Guess that means you're coming too," Hiro said to Baymax. "Wasabi, Honey Lemon, go to the police chief and stay by the phone with him. We might be calling you from inside with his demands. Be ready for anything."

"Please bring back Fred and Gogo alive!" Honey Lemon almost pleaded with Hiro.

"I will. Be ready," Hiro said once more and put his hand around the handle of the bank door and pulled it open. He opened the door for Baymax and pushed him inside and he let the door close behind him, leaving him in a very dark room.

He started forward but stopped when suddenly the lights lit up the area. He was in a foyer. In front of him were another set of glass doors. He tried the handle but it was locked.

"That's close enough," a mad said.

The man walked forward with his gun pointed at Hiro. He wore all black and had a sock mask covering his face. _Typical_ disguise, Hiro thought to himself as he raised his hands again in a surrender showing he was not armed.

"At least let my robot tend to the wounded," Hiro said.

The man nodded and walked close to the doors and pushed one open.

"Go Baymax," Hiro said with his hands still raised.

Baymax obediently obeyed and shuffled out the door. Another armed man came from the hallway and ushered Baymax away, leaving Hiro and the man with the gun alone.

"Who are you?" the man asked.

"Hiro Hamada," he replied.

"You have interesting friends with interesting inventions," the man said. "I wonder what invention yours is."

"You have already seen mine. He passed you moments ago," Hiro said.

"Ah! I see."

"Why are you holding these people hostage?" Hiro asked.

"How do you think I will leave this bank alive and rich?"

"Are people's lives worth so little to you?" Hiro asked.

"On the contrary, they are worth so much more."

"You can't measure the value of a person's life in dollars," Hiro said.

"Shut it, _boy_ ," the man spat, obviously irritated with Hiro now.

Hiro backed off and changed direction of the conversation, hoping to calm the man down.

"I told you my name. What's yours?" Hiro asked.

"You can call me Lucas," he replied.

"Ok Lucas, I'll be honest with you about the situation outside. The chief of police is here with the fire department along with the rest of my friends. Their top priority right now is the hostages. How many do you have?"

Lucas' hand faltered on his gun, surprised by Hiro's question. He did not expect him to be so frank with him. _He's going to trick me, I know it,_ Lucas thought. His face turned back to a scowl and he now aimed his gun at Hiro's head.

"I'm not telling you. I don't even know why I let you in to being with!" Lucas said raising his voice.

This conversation was not going as Hiro expected.

"Can you tell me why you are robbing this bank? Give me something to tell the police chief and maybe he can strike a deal with you," Hiro said hoping he could give him something.

Lucas shook his gun at Hiro, his hand inching closer to the trigger. The man's eyes looked hurt and Hiro could see that the man was struggling with his emotions. He wished Baymax was still with him. He would be able to calm the man down at least.

"You want to know why I'm here?!" Lucas half screamed. He dropped his arm holding the gun and the man bent his knees and quietly sobbed.

Hiro's eyebrows went up in shock as Lucas exposed his feelings to him.

"I needed money. I made a bad deal with a man named Jiro Akita," Lucas said.

"Jiro Akita? Who is that?" Hiro asked. The name sounded familiar but he couldn't remember who he was.

Lucas laughed, "Who hasn't heard of Jiro Akita? He's the Yakuza leader and most famous bot fighter alive. I…I lost a fight to him. He took everything from me. He wanted to take my daughter and have her become a geisha. I didn't want to sell my daughter to that life. So I bargained for her life over a bot fight and I lost. I figured if I got enough money, I could return to Jiro and pay to get her back."

Lucas was in sobs now as Hiro watched him behind the glass. He suddenly felt very sorry for this man and his friends. Love is a powerful force and he could understand doing something extreme for the person you love.

"Lucas, I…" Hiro started but stopped himself. _I, what? I'm sorry? I understand?_ No. Hiro didn't fully understand the pain this man felt. He didn't have children and his parents passed away when he was three years old. _I want to help_. The Yakuza was a bad organized Japanese mafia group. He remembered hearing the name Jiro now. Jiro Akita was the leader of the Inagura family, the only clan that extended beyond Japan and went international making most of their profits from bot fights. As an ex-bot fighter, Hiro knew where to look for the fights. And there was one bot fighter he knew had a connection with the Inagura family. Yama.

Hiro's mind went wild with his thoughts. He wanted to help Lucas. He truly did, even though the man was foolish to bargain with someone's life over a bot fight. And he was even more foolish to put more people's lives at risk to get his daughter back. He feared there would be no saving him from the police, but if he could put his mind at rest by bringing his daughter back, maybe he could just be grateful knowing his daughter was safe.

"Lucas, I want to help you get your daughter back," Hiro started.

Lucas looked up from the floor.

"But, I don't know what I can do about the police. What you have done here is very foolish. You threatened the lives of innocent people and I cannot let that go. But I don't want your daughter to suffer. She doesn't deserve that. Let the hostages go. Let the police take you and I promise to rescue your daughter," Hiro said.

"You would do that?" Lucas asked. "You don't even know me."

"I know Jiro is a much bigger threat and he needs to be dealt with. Let me do this for you," Hiro pleaded.

Lucas starred at Hiro for moments then nodded his head in agreement, trusting Hiro to be true to his word. And he would be.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I changed the name of the Yakuza clan from the last chapter juuuuuuust to keep everything FICTIONAL. It is now Inagura. The leader's name is Jiro Akita.**

Chapter 4

"Gogo!" Hiro said running toward her as he saw her.

Gogo got up from her spot on the floor and smiled when she saw her friend but her expression turned to fear when she saw the man who shot at them trailing behind him.

"Hiro!" Gogo called. Hiro embraced her, his hand moved up her back and cradled the back of her head. They clung to each other for a moment, not wanting to let go. Hiro was just relieved that she was uninjured.

"Are you alright?" Hiro asked against her neck.

"Yes, are you?" she asked into his shoulder.

Hiro pulled away and nodded with a small smile.

"This is Lucas. He is going to let everyone go, but we have to save his daughter in return," Hiro said, ushering to the masked man beside him.

Gogo turned her head in confusion and raised an eyebrow, "His daughter? What sort of deal did you make?"

"I'll tell you more about it when we get out," Hiro said. He looked around the room. He saw twelve scared people sitting on the ground in silence. Fred was not among them. "Where's Fred and Baymax?"

"Fred got shot. Baymax is tending to him in the other room," Gogo said.

Hiro started to open his mouth to say something but Gogo put a finger up to silence him. "He's fine. One bullet went through the side of his suit and the other grazed his leg. He's going to be alright. The man wasn't a good shot."

Hiro smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He was sad that his friend got injured, but better his friend than one of these innocent people. He looked around before he delivered the good news and smiled at everyone.

"You are all free to go. The police and fire department are waiting for you outside," Hiro announced. Everyone looked very relieved and they stood up to leave.

Lucas stood behind him, still with his mask on. His friends came up to him with their masks still on as well.

"What do we do boss? This wasn't part of the plan! We were supposed to split the profit!" one said.

"Take your masks off and walk out with the rest of the hostages. The police will not arrest you if they think you were one of the hostages," Hiro said stepping in front of Lucas to protect him in case they decided to act. "Innocent men will not die for your mistakes," Hiro said quietly to Lucas.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They removed their masks and followed the rest of the hostages out.

Just then, Baymax came around the corner with Fred limping behind him.

"Baymax! Fred!" Hiro called out, happy to see them both.

"Amigos!" Fred said to greet his friends with his arms spread wide.

"Your heart rate is elevated," Baymax started to say.

"That's because I'm very happy right now," Hiro replied before Baymax got the wrong idea.

Outside the bank, Hiro escorted Lucas to the police cars. Lucas did not resist and willingly let the police take him away. He noticed a firefighter checking out Fred but Baymax had his wound wrapped and cleaned, the firefighter gave him some crutches and let him go.

Wasabi and Honey Lemon were waiting by the van so Hiro, Gogo, Fred, and Baymax headed for their car. Honey Lemon jumped up at the sight of the group and ran up to them.

"Hiro! You made it!" Honey Lemon said grabbing Hiro's shoulders and examining as much of him as she could. She then proceeded to do the same to Gogo. When she got to Fred, she stopped. She did not grab his shoulders. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his torso and sighed against his chest. Fred looked at the rest of the group surprised. Hiro smirked at him and turned around to give them privacy. He saw Gogo still watching so he put his arm around her shoulders and guided her to the van.

"What? You're just going to leave them alone?!" Gogo asked beside Hiro.

"Sure. Everyone's known for a while now…" Hiro said.

Gogo remained surprised. She couldn't see love around her unless it was a wall and she ran right into it.

"You scared me," Honey Lemon whispered to Fred against his chest.

Fred was surprised as well. He did not think Honey Lemon felt the same. All those attempts, all those lines he used, he didn't think she took him seriously. He never imagined she would feel the same.

"Honey Lemon," Fred started, but he felt he had no words. He dropped his crutches and clung to her. "I'm so sorry! I'll be more careful next time."

He felt her sigh with relief and she began to shake.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"I'm sorry," Honey Lemon said as she backed away from him. She sank to her knees and Fred bent down as best he could with her. "It's just…you know…emotions!" she said wiping a tear from her cheek. She didn't know if she could describe this emotion. She was angry that he foolishly ran off, but she was happy to have him back alive. Realizing that Fred was on the ground with her, she stood up and helped him to his feet and they made their way to the van.

"Well, seems like everything went smoothly," Wasabi said sitting next to Gogo in the front seat. Fred, Honey Lemon and Hiro sat in the back seat.

"Too smoothly it seems," Gogo said adjusting the van's mirror so she could see Hiro's face in the back seat. "Care to share about that deal you made?" she asked.

Hiro looked at her reflection.

"He has a daughter. She was taken by a Yakuza family. I promised him to free her in return for his surrender to the police. He was only robbing the bank to try to buy her freedom."

"And why would we want to help him? He's a criminal," Gogo asked.

"Because the yakuza family that has her is only powerful because of bot fights," Hiro said.

"Aren't you a bot figher?" Wasabi asked, chiming in on the conversation.

"Ex-bot fighter," Hiro said holding up a finger. "But this clan plays dirty and I know just who to go to to contact them."

"I hope you know what you're doing," Gogo said.

"Don't worry. We just saved several lives today. The least we can do is honor our part of the bargain."

"You bargained with peoples' lives," Gogo interrupted. She struck Hiro with her comment. He didn't know what to say back. She had just compared him to the criminal they reprimanded.

The van was awkwardly silent. The team remained quiet the rest of the drive. First stop was Fred's house. Honey Lemon got off with him to help him inside and decided to stay with him. Wasabi was next, as he lived in an apartment complex a couple blocks away. The silence remained with just Gogo, Hiro, and a powered down Baymax in the car.

"Gogo," Hiro started, but she just glared at him through the mirror.

Hiro sighed, "What would you have done?"

Gogo glanced at the mirror again, but didn't say anything. Her face was less harsh though, as she pondered the question Hiro asked. _Would she have done something different and got the same result? No._ Gogo was brash, and rushed into situations, like she did to rescue Fred, but instead got herself captured as well and if it hadn't been for Fred jumping in front of that gun, she would have been the one injured. She decided not to tell Hiro this.

"I couldn't have done anything different and got all the hostages released unharmed," Gogo finally said to Hiro. "And, I'm sorry I got mad at you."

Gogo pulled the van in front of Cass's café which also doubled as Hiro's house. She shifted the transmission into 'Park' but didn't turn off the engine. _It's best to leave Hiro here for the rest of the day and go home_ , she thought.

"Would you like to have dinner?" Hiro asked as he scooted to the edge of his seat to talk more closely to Gogo.

She turned and blinked at him.

"My aunt said something the other day about game night at her friend's house. She won't be cooking, but I can make a mean ramen," Hiro offered.

 _Alone? With Hiro?_

"I…" Gogo started. She twisted her hands around the steering wheel not sure if she wanted to accept his offer. _Were they getting too close? Was this ok?_

"You don't really need to think that hard. It's just dinner," Hiro said, interrupting her thoughts.

 _'_ _It's just dinner' he says, but it's not JUST dinner to me_ , she thought.

"Ok," she said smiling at him. He instantly lit up and returned her smile with his goofy grin.

 _What am I thinking?_ She wondered as she turned off the van.

Hiro turned Baymax on and they all entered the empty café. Hiro turned on the back light and led everyone upstairs. Gogo took Baymax into Hiro's room and put him on his charger and came down as he just started boiling some water.

Gogo flopped down on one of the chairs at the small table and turned on the television. The news station was still on and the reporter was covering the story of the bank robbery earlier that day. She turned the volume down low so there was still noise and flipped through the magazine on the counter. It was a fashion magazine. She wasn't sure if Aunt Cass really read it. The lady was so busy with the café during the day, she wondered when she had time to sit and relax, and if she even liked the topic of fashion. She looked back up at the television and noticed the stack of old horror films piled on top. _There's no way she actually reads this crap_ , Gogo thought closing the magazine.

"Bon Appetite!" Hiro said, placing a bowl of ramen in front of Gogo and the other bowl in front of the empty chair next to her.

She looked down at the ramen. It looked like plain ramen to her.

"This is your 'mean' ramen?" she asked.

Hiro grinned and said, "You'll never know until you try it!"

Gogo picked up her spoon and chowed down. It was pretty good and spicy. Aunt Cass showed up when they were almost finished eating. Gogo turned red and left as fast as she could, not wanting to give Aunt Cass the wrong idea about her and Hiro. Hiro walked her out to the van and watched as she drove off. He then shut off the lights in the café and headed back up the stairs.

"That girl is so oblivious," Cass said as Hiro came back in the room.

"Oblivious to what?" Hiro asked, confused.

Cass's jaw dropped and she shook her head in disbelief. _Neither of them feel that tension! They are BOTH oblivious to each other's feelings_. And she returned to washing the dishes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: Short chapter I know, but I wanted you all to know that this scene happened. What do you think? Too much too soon? Or just right? Cybercorpsesnake, this one's for you!**

Chapter 5

"Honey, listen, I'm alright, really!" Fred pleaded. Fred and Honey Lemon were dropped off together at his house and she had her arms wrapped around his waist as they made their way upstairs to his room.

Honey Lemon remained quiet next to Fred as he rambled on about not feeling anything. She stood aside as he tossed his crutches on the door and limped to his couch. He turned and sat down and breathed out a long breath, then looked up at Honey Lemon. She stood with her arms crossed and a glare across her face.

The silence dragged on. Fred blinked several times at her before finally starting to say something. "Honey...listen," he started.

"No, you listen!" Honey Lemon interrupted him.

He shut his mouth and looked up at her in shock. She had her arms at her side with her hands balled into tight fists. She looked ready to explode.

Honey Lemon began to pace as she began to speak her mind. "You're so foolish! Dimwitted! Brash-brasher than Gogo! Immature! Naïve!"

Fred stood up as she listed off her insults.

"Irresponsible! Reckless! Irrational! Insane! Inconsiderate!"

"Honey," Fred softly spoke her name behind her.

She spun around with another insult at her lips, but before she could speak it, Fred's hand was on her cheek, silencing her mouth with his thumb. They stared at each other, holding their breaths, afraid to breathe. Honey Lemon's tears were just about to fall as Fred inched closer to her. She felt his other hand on the mid of her back.

"Honey, I don't know if my apology will suffice, but I truly am sorry and you're right. I am all those things that you said. But I just can't help myself when you're around me," Fred said, almost in a whisper.

Honey Lemon's lips trembled. "In the car, I began imagining what my life would be like without you…"

Fred shook his head. He was mad at himself for being the reason Honey Lemon would have such thoughts, but as she told him, he didn't want to imagine his life without her either. He didn't want to hear it.

"Don't-" Fred started to say, but she silenced him this time with her lips. His eyes went wide with her surprise, but after a moment of feeling her lips move against his, he closed his eyes, breathed out a sigh of relief and kissed her back. Her arms went around his neck and he cradled her face as if she was porcelain and he didn't want her to break. He felt her tears finally fall from her eyes and he ran his hand through her hair, gripping the back of her neck, leaning her head down, and kissed her forehead.

She let out a shaky breath. _How long have I wanted that?_ she thought.

"I won't do that again! I swear," Fred promised.

Honey Lemon looked up, a little confused. "You mean the kiss or running head first into danger?"

Fred couldn't help but laugh at her question. "Running into danger!" he managed to say. Honey Lemon was laughing too.

"Good because I do hope you kiss me again soon," she said with a smile.

"Don't worry, I plan to do a lot of that," he said smiling as he leaned in to kiss her again.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Hiro, Gogo, and Wasabi were all gathered in Hiro's garage tuning their inventions and discussing their next move.

"How exactly do you plan to get Lucas' daughter back again?" Wasabi asked Hiro with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Lucas said Jiro's clan was only big because of bot fights. So, we need to go to a bot fight," Hiro said watching Wasabi organizing his tools on his table.

" _Hello!_ We don't have a bot to fight with," Gogo commented.

Hiro looked around his garage and spotted the crate that held his old Mega Bot that he used in his bot fights. His Mega Bot had been his inspiration for his Micro Bots and he hadn't picked it up since that _whole_ incident. Then there was Baymax. He would be very big, but he could hold up in a fight with all his gear.

"What about Baymax?" Hiro asked.

"No way. You know fighting isn't in his nature," Gogo objected.

"He would be fighting _robots_ ," Wasabi commented, stressing his last word.

Hiro looked again at the crate as Wasabi and Gogo continued their banter. The Mega Bot would need some adjustments, but it could work again.

"Guys," Hiro said making his way to the crate.

"Baymax doesn't need to fight in mindless bot fights! He's not saving anyone!" Gogo continued her argument.

"You don't get to decide!" Wasabi argued back.

"Guys!" Hiro said finally, commanding silence in the room. They two stopped arguing and looked up at Hiro. He presented his Mega Bot. "We can use this!"

Gogo popped her bubble gum. Wasabi raised his right eyebrow. They both looked at the Mega Bot in silence. It wouldn't stand a chance in a fighting ring.

"That thing?" Gogo finally asked.

"Well, yeah. It was my inspiration for my micro bots," Hiro said.

"I guess it's worth a shot," Wasabi commented.

"It doesn't even have to win. We just need it to enter so we can hopefully see Yama," Hiro said.

"Yama?" Gogo and Wasabi asked together.

"Who is Yama?" Gogo asked.

"He's our contact to the Inagura clan," Hiro said.

"How do you know he's connected with them?" Wasabi asked.

"He always wears their symbol to the bot fights. Last time I saw him it was on the back of his jacket," Hiro said.

Gogo and Wasabi stopped their questioning and looked at Hiro. He still stood there in front of his friends waiting for more. Would the information he gave them be enough to convince them to help him? He wasn't hiding anything from his friends…but he wasn't sure if they would agree to this task. Bot fighting was deemed illegal – betting or no betting – so they were treading in deep water, should they choose to continue.

Gogo sighed. "We're with you, Hiro. All the way," she said.

Hiro relaxed a little and smiled at Gogo.

"Let's go then!"

"Maybe we should have waited for Fred and Honey Lemon before coming here," Wasabi said quietly to his friends. Hiro, Baymax, Gogo, and Wasabi had arrived at the Bot Fight and the memories came rushing back to Hiro. His mind kept replaying the last time he was at a Bot Fight and how his brother had rescued him from the gang. There would be no rescue this time. It was all or nothing.

Hiro glanced around the crowd, ignoring Wasabi's comment, scanning the people for Yama. He was a fairly large Japanese man, so he should have been easy to spot.

"Hiro, I don't see a guy like Yama here," Gogo commented beside him. She had her eyes peeled and received harsh glances from several people in the crowd. She thought she had dressed appropriately wearing shorts with black leggings, and a skin tight yellow tank with a white jacket, but she did not fit in with this crowd. If any of the group, Hiro blended in the most. She grabbed hold of Hiro's left arm and linked her arm around his. She did not want to be separated from him in this crowd.

Hiro glanced over to her and saw her concerned expression as she looked through the crowd. He suddenly felt bad for putting her out of her element. She always put on a tough façade, but he could tell she had a soft heart as they grew to be closer friends. He cared so much for her.

"We won't be long. As soon as we find Yama, we'll leave," Hiro said leaning down next to her. He grasped her linked hand with his free hand and rubbed circles on the back of her hand.

This made her feel a little relaxed, so she looked up and smiled at Hiro, showing him she was a bit more relieved as they treaded onwards.

The current fight was between two women. One bot, clearly faster and smaller than the other, had torn its opponent apart from the inside, out – a tactic that Hiro used to use during his fights. He saw the referee with the red umbrella and a closed pot. _So they were still betting_ , he thought. He patted his inside jacket pocket and felt the wad of money he had rolled just in case there was a bet. He was glad they came prepared.

"Again! The winner for another round, Abbey!" the referee called offering the woman her winnings from the pot. "Who will be her next opponent?"

Many of the observers backed away from the ring with their bots, not wanting to have their fighting machines destroyed in one fight. Hiro's was unique though. It could come apart at will and be put back together easily.

Hiro looked at the woman called Abbey. She had black hair and brown eyes. Her face was very distinct, as if he had seen her somewhere before, but he drew a blank and couldn't remember where he had seen her.

"I have a bot!" Hiro called out. The crowd parted for him to the ring.

"Hiro! No! We are here to look for Yama!" Gogo objected and yanked his arm down.

"I doubt Yama will show unless someone good enough wins to get his attention," Hiro said. He unlinked his arm from hers and left her standing next to Wasabi and Baymax.

Hiro took a seat across from Abbey. She had her robot lined up and controller out as she fished out the money for the bet. Hiro placed his bot in the ring, took out his controller, and placed an equal bet in the pot.

"Two bots enter, one bot wins," the referee announced, spinning the red umbrella between the opponents. "FIGHT!"

The fight sprang into action. Abbey's bot was already on the other side of the ring, coming at Hiro's Mega Bot from behind. Hiro spun the parts of his bot around so it faced the bot head on. Her bot was made of some flexible material – aluminum perhaps – with talons that ripped and a fist that could punch. The legs had a bending ability, making it possible for it to move fast. It was the same size as Hiro's bot. _Two small bots with a big fight_ , Hiro thought to himself. Oh how he had missed this. The adrenaline rushing through his veins brought out a new side of Hiro. He became very determined and focused as he concentrated on the fight. He spread his bot's parts around to corner Abbey's bot, but she was too fast. Her bot would slide its talons under each part and attempted to fling the parts out of the circle, but Hiro was too quick and attracted the parts back to each other.

Hiro stole a glance at Abbey and saw the same determined look in her face, and that was all of a distraction Abbey needed to once again fling Hiro's bot parts out of the circle. Hiro saw her plan at the last moment but was unable to stop it as he watched his Mega Bot being flung out of the ring.

"Disqualified!" the referee announced.

Hiro slumped his shoulders and picked up his bot. Abbey grinned and plucked the cash from the pot, but turned her gaze to look at Hiro again. He gave her a nod of approval and she smiled in return. He turned and walked off the ring to his friends in the crowd.

"See anything?" Hiro asked Wasabi and Gogo.

They both shook their heads.

"Unstoppable for three rounds! Who will be her next opponent?" the referee asked the crowd.

"Three opponents is a lot. Yama still hasn't shown," Gogo commented.

Hiro nodded in agreement. He glanced behind and watched the bot fight. Abbey was facing a snake-like bot. It constricted itself around Abbey's bot and the fight came to a swift end and it crushed its body. The crowd sighed and he watched her opponent taking his share of the pot.

"Come on guys, let's go. There's one more fight happening in a warehouse across town," Hiro said, steering his friends away from the crowd.

"Wait!" a female voice called from behind them.

The friends turned around and saw Abbey coming at them with her bot in hand.

"Wait! Hiro," Abbey said as she neared them. She stopped in front of them and placed her hands on her knees and heaved her exhaustion until she finally caught her breath. "I knew you looked familiar!"

Hiro cocked an eyebrow at her, "I do?" He pointed a finger at himself.

"Yes, it's me! Abigail Callaghan. You rescued me a couple years ago," she said excitedly.

"Abigail! Yes, I remember you! What are you doing at a bot fight?" Hiro asked.

"Oh, I love it! The crowds! The adrenaline! The victory!" she spread her arms and gestured to the atmosphere around her.

"And the defeat?" Gogo said interrupting her.

"Ah, yes, well, that…I don't lose too often," Abigail said growing solemn. Hiro gave Gogo a harsh look for her comment, but Gogo turned her head, ignoring him. "What are you doing at a bot fight?" Abigail asked.

"I was hoping I would run into another bot fighter," Hiro said.

"Oh, I take it you didn't find them?" she asked.

"No, we were just about to check the other bot fight," Hiro replied.

"Well, who were you looking for? I've been doing this a while, I know some people," she said.

Hiro glanced at his friends wondering if they should trust her, but he got shrugs from Gogo and Wasabi, so Hiro decided for himself to see if Abigail knew.

"We're looking for Yama."

At the mention of his name, both of Abigail's eyebrows shot up.

" _The_ Yama?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't know he was all that important, but yes, _Yama_ ," Hiro replied.

"Well, you're at the wrong kind of fight," she said.

"What do you mean, _wrong kind of fight_?" Gogo asked folding her arms across her chest.

"Yama doesn't do petty bot fighting anymore," Abigail said.

"Wait, there's another style of fighting?" Wasabi asked holding a hand out to stop Abigail from continuing.

"You didn't know?" Abigail asked looking between the group. When no one answered her she sighed. "Well, about two years ago, Steel Wars began popping up. They are like bot fights, but bigger."

"Bigger?" Hiro asked.

"Yeah, bots twice the size as humans and they fight each other with a human controller," she said.

"Woah," Hiro, Gogo, and Wasabi all said together.

"You want to find Yama? I'll take you to the next Steel War," Abigail offered.

"Thank you, when is it?" Hiro asked.

Abigail grinned, "Friday night. I'll pick you up at the café around 8. But, I can't get you all in. I don't have enough tickets. You have to earn your seats. _I_ have two saved up."

"Hiro, I don't like this. You can't go there alone," Gogo said pulling Hiro aside and whispering to him.

Hiro sighed and looked in her brown eyes.

"I'll be alright, I promise. I won't do anything reckless. I'm just going to talk to Yama. No fighting," Hiro whispered, trying to reassure her.

Gogo frowned but sighed. She nodded her head and they turned back to Abigail.

"See you tomorrow night then," Hiro said, shaking Abigail's hand.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Friday had arrived. Hiro was impatient as ever for when eight o'clock would draw near. He checked his phone. Seven o'clock, it read. One more hour. Hiro bounced he knee impatiently. He sat at a table in his aunt's café as he waited. He did not want to miss Abigail's arrival.

He glanced at his phone again, unaware that someone had sat down across from him. It wasn't until a plastic bag thudded on the table, did Hiro finally look up.

Gogo sat across from him, arms folded, a scowl on her face, and Chinese take-out odor steaming from the bag on the table. Hiro glanced up and smiled at her.

"What's this?" Hiro asked reaching for the bag.

"Just dinner," Gogo replied.

She didn't move as Hiro opened the bag so he kept his eyes on her wondering what she was up to. He pulled out the first box, careful not to tip it. He opened it and saw his favorite dish: broccoli and beef with rice. He let himself take a big inhale of the food, but he narrowed his eyes and shut the lid.

"Just dinner?" Hiro asked. There's more to it…

"Dinner with a condition," Gogo said.

Hiro raised an eyebrow. "What's the condition?" he asked.

She unfolded her arms and leaned them on the table as she sat forward. She was wearing a low top and Hiro had to consciously advert his eyes from her chest.

"The condition is that you come back alive from this fight," she said.

Hiro relaxed a bit and let out a small chuckle, "Of course I'll come back alive."

Gogo didn't smile. _Like it is that easy_. "I'm being serious."

Hiro stopped his quiet chuckle and really looked at Gogo. Her eyes were worried and her lips drawn into a small frown. He didn't like to see her like this, but what choice did he have? He reached across the table with both his hands and grasped hers. He felt a small tremble dissipate as they joined. He gave her a small squeeze. "I'm serious too. I'll come back to you," he said.

 _I'll come back to you_.

Gogo nodded and withdrew her hands and reached for the bag. She pulled out the other tray. Hiro watched as she opened her tray that had the exact same meal in it. She smiled and handed him a set of chopsticks.

They finished their meal as Aunt Cass brought them a cake to share.

It was finally time. Hiro stood up from the table and grabbed his jacket off his chair. He slipped his arms into it, fixed his collar, and turned to Gogo. She was standing next to the table. Hiro's heart skipped in his chest as he gazed upon her body. She was beautiful.

He glanced down at his hands as he fidgeted, not sure just what to say. She stepped closer to him and raised her arms up to his neck. He expected her to pull him down, but instead she flipped the back of his collar down as he had missed that part.

"Thank you," he said softly.

She smiled up at him.

They leaned closer.

Hiro's arms grasped her forearms as he pulled her closer, but they were interrupted by a car honk outside. Hiro glanced over Gogo's shoulder and saw Abigail's car pulled next to the curb.

"That's my ride," he said looking down at Gogo.

 _Interrupted again…_ Her smile grew as she said, "One more promise…"

"What's that?"

She hugged him and waited for him to hug her back before saying, "Don't kiss her."

Hiro froze at her request. Gogo drew away with a smirk. She didn't need confirmation from him. Instead, she pushed him out the door and waved to Abigail as he silently got in her car. Aunt Cass stood behind Gogo and waved, pulling Gogo back inside as they pulled away.

"Excited?" Abigail asked Hiro next to him in the car.

Hiro nodded, his mind still on Gogo.

"You don't seem _that_ excited," she commented.

Hiro smiled. "Sorry. My mind was elsewhere."

The drive wasn't too long. Abigail pulled into a packed parking lot of what looked like a warehouse. People were lined up by the doors to go inside. As Hiro got out of the car he noticed that there were a lot of people. Abigail grabbed a jacket and led Hiro to the door. They bypassed the line of people waiting at the door and went straight to the window as she presented her tickets. The gate clicked open and they were led inside by a large man. The inside looked like a boxing arena. Stadium seats lined the walls and in the center of the room was a ring, lifted off the ground, with two areas on either side where the controllers would probably stand during the battle, Hiro assumed.

The place was packed but Abigail led them to two seats close to the front rows that were directly in view of one of the controller stations.

"It should start soon!" Abigail yelled over the noise.

Hiro glanced down at his wrist watch then the lights in the stadium went dark, leaving the ring lit. A spotlight scanned the crowd and aimed down a hallway. A door was lifted and the crowd began to cheer as a Steel Bot came into view. Abigail had been accurate in her description. The massive robot was twice the size of its human controller and was decked out in fighting weapons. Its shoulders looked like massive cannons. Hiro wasn't sure if firing off weapon rounds were legal, but it certainly looked badass. Hiro wasn't able to catch the name of the controller and his robot over the crowd.

But the crowd cheers grew louder as the spotlight scanned the room again to the other side of the stadium. Hiro saw the opponent robot. It was even bigger than the first. No cannons on the shoulders. This one was all about swords and knives it seemed. He saw two massive katana swords strapped to the back, with large daggers strapped around its waist. The controller walked next to the robot and Hiro recognized him immediately.

 _Finally!_ The man they needed. Yama walked next to the Steel Katana Bot and the crowd went crazy.

Abigail turned to him and nudged her head in Yama's direction mouthing 'Is that him?'

Hiro nodded and watched as Yama entered the ring.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Steel Wars!" the ring announcer said over a microphone. The crowd continued to cheer. "Tonight we have Mal versus Yama!"

The two opponents shook hands and walked to their spots in the ring. They readied their bots. Loud noises erupted from the ground, shaking the walls and seats of the stadium as the robots powered on. The fighters posed their first stance with their bot, waiting for the fight to begin.

The ring announcer hushed the crowd, holding up his hands. Hiro watched and waited as the room grew silent. He could feel his heart swell with anticipation. He watched Yama carefully. His massive head was already sweating. Silence filled the room leaving everyone antsy for it to begin.

The ring announcer pulled the microphone close to his lips.

"START!"

Yama sprang into action first yelling commands into his head gear over the roaring crowd. His opponent was slower, but the bots collided in a melee. Yama's bot attempted to lift his opponent up with his arms, but Mal's bot slammed its elbows into the bot's shoulders, grounding him, preventing his from moving. With one arm still on Mal's bot, it reached behind itself with the other arm and unsheathed one of the massive katana swords. The sword arm swung down and chopped off one of the arms to Mal's bot. Mal yelled commands for his robot to back off and power up its cannons. The crowd roared with delight. This was the action they were waiting for. Mal's bot aimed at Yama. The shoulder cannons opened as Yama charged forward unsheathing the other katana while it traveled.

The next part happened so fast, Hiro was sure his life was going to end.

Hiro watched as the shoulder cannons sparked. Yama sidestepped at the last minute. Mal's cannons fired and missed Yama's bot. They were headed straight for the audience where Hiro and Abigail were sitting. Hiro's eyes went wide with fear. He almost had time to stand, but the ammunition never reached past the ring. An invisible shield began to vibrate around the ring as the cannon balls blasted against it.

The crowd went wild as in ring, Yama's bot was delivering the final blow to his opponent.

"The winner is, Yaaaaamaaaaaaa!" the ring announcer called.

Yama jumped into the ring and stood next to his bot. He turned around and faced the crowd behind him. The lights flipped on all round in the stadium. Yama and Hiro locked eyes. His face turned into a scowl, despite his recent victory.

Yama whispered something to a man standing next to him and the man nodded in reply and left. Hiro suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Abigail, I think we should go," Hiro said to her.

She turned to him, "You still have to talk to Yama though!"

He was about to say something when his arm was being pulled to his side. The man that was on the stage with Yama was pulling him up out of his seat.

Hiro jolted with surprise, but the man's grip was too strong. He tried wriggling his arm free but failed. He suddenly felt a pull from his other arm. Abigail was trying to save him. But no sooner were two men man-handling her too.

"Abigail!"

"Hiro!"

Hiro continued to fight until a fist met his face and he blacked out. _My promise…I'm sorry Gogo._


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Mild violence in this chapter.**

Chapter 8

Hiro woke with a bad headache. His eyes fluttered open as he tried to look around, but his vision was still blurry. He blinked several times and tried to bring his hands up to wipe his eyes but was unable to. The realization that he was constricted startled him. He opened his eyes as wide as he could. He was sitting in a chair outside and it was dark. In front of him was a wall. To his left was a wall. To his right looked like an alleyway. He was in an alley. Behind the stadium?

He heard a door slam behind him. Heavy footsteps padded the ground behind him. He kept his breathing steady. He heard the door open again, this time for a much longer period. He heard distant cries from a crowd. _Still at the stadium_. But several people were now exiting from the door behind the heavy footsteps.

"Hiro Hamada," Yama's voice thundered from behind him.

"Yama," Hiro replied. He dipped his head and looked up when Yama rounded him. A gang of men followed behind him with Abigail in tow. She was only restrained and it didn't look like they harmed her.

"Your little friend here says you're looking for _me_. But she couldn't tell us why," Yama said expecting Hiro to tell him.

"Yes. I needed to talk to you," Hiro said.

"Speak! Boy!" Yama said with a kick to Hiro's ribs.

Hiro leaned forward after the blow and gasped. Yama's heavy foot had knocked the wind from him.

"I need to talk to Jiro Akita!" Hiro said through gasps.

"You just said you needed to talk to me," Yama said.

"I knew you would know where to find Jiro," Hiro said.

"HA! You think talking to me would help you find Jiro. Why would I help a pest like you? You destroyed me that night years ago! I was leading the Inagura clan in those bot fights! But you came along one night and took everything away from me. The Inagura clan disowned me. Jiro threw me out of his home himself. Do you know how long it took for me to build up a name again?" Yama said.

He was full of rage. Rage that he took out on Hiro. He kicked him again in the ribs. This time Hiro heard an audible crack.

"You took everything from me!" Yama roared. His fist connected with Hiro's head.

By this time, Hiro fully regretted coming to this fight alone. He hadn't expected Yama to be so abusive, but he hadn't know the damage he had done to him years ago. There was no Tadashi here to rescue him and Abigail was restrained.

Yama's fist connected with Hiro's head again, this time splitting open the skin on Hiro's forehead. Blood seeped from the wound. Hiro could taste it as the blood dripped into his mouth. Tasted salty. He must have been sweating too.

Hiro's eye lids felt heavy. He heard the cry of sleep calling his name. His body went numb.

 _"_ _-Ro!...Hiro!...stay with me!...almost there!"_

Abigail sped through the streets as fast as she could, headed for Cass's café. Hiro was in her back seat slipping to unconscious.

"Don't fall asleep Hiro!" she cried.

Finally the street of the café came into view. Abigail stopped and jumped out. She pulled Hiro out of the back seat under his arms and carried him to the front door of the café. She pushed and the door opened.

"GOGO!" she cried from the doorway.

Gogo and Aunt Cass had fallen asleep on the couch watching an old scary movie when they heard the café door push open from downstairs. A voice called up to Gogo and she jumped up and raced down stairs. Cass followed her.

Gogo saw them before reaching the bottom and her heart sank at the sight of Abigail carrying Hiro's bloody body.

"Hiro!" she cried. "Cass! Get Baymax now!" Gogo ordered.

Cass froze on the stairs and turned and ran up to Hiro's room.

Gogo lifted Hiro from Abigail and carefully laid him down on the couch. She tried her best to hide the tears that threatened to leave her eyes but she couldn't help herself.

"You promised you would come back to me!" she cried.

She was about to pound on his chest when Abigail stopped her hand.

Abigail shook her head. "Don't. I think he has some broken ribs."

Gogo's lips trembled as she looked again at Hiro. Rage filled her from the inside.

"This is all your fault," she said in a very low voice to Abigail.

Cass and Baymax were making their way down the stairs. Cass was pulling Baymax's arm as fast as she could until they reached the couch. Baymax scanned Hiro and began to start the treatment.

Gogo stood aside to let Baymax work. She folded her arms across her chest.

 _I promise I'll come back to you_ , Hiro's promise rang through her head.

 _Yeah, you came back alright, injured, bleeding, and unconscious_.

"Gogo?" Abigail called her from her thoughts.

Gogo spun around and punched Abigail in the cheek.

"Oww!" Abigail cried.

Baymax looked up from where he was working and scanned Abigail's body. "I suggest putting an ice pack on your cheek," he said.

"Don't advise her, Baymax. She did that to Hiro," Gogo said.

"I do not think she could inflict these types of injuries. She is not strong enough," Baymax said and returned to work on Hiro.

Abigail looked again at Gogo.

"Get out," Gogo said holding back her anger.

Abigail left without another word. Tears poured from her swollen eye as she jumped in her car and sped off. Gogo locked the café door then turned around to see if Baymax and Cass needed any help.

"Go rest," Cass said turning Gogo away from Hiro. "If anything changes, I'll let you know."

Gogo sighed and began to walk upstairs. It had never been this bad before. _What has Hiro gotten himself into?_ It was a bad idea from the start to go in there alone. What was a team for if not for back up? The least their group could have done was follow them and wait in the car until the fight was over. If Hiro didn't come out, they could have somehow rescued him from the scene. Gogo was too blinded by her trust to have thought of that idea at the time. Now she cursed herself for letting her emotions get the better of her.

She grabbed her bag and headed back downstairs. She quietly slipped into Hiro's garage to not disturb Cass and Baymax. She lifted the garage door and closed it behind her. She stood on the sidewalk wondering what exactly it was that she was doing. Her heart was broken. She couldn't bear the thought of losing Hiro. They had already lost his brother.

She sighed and looked up. "Tadashi," she said to the sky. "What do I do?"


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 _I promise I'll come back to you._

"Gogo," Hiro murmured. He almost felt her presence around him.

"Sorry to disappoint," a voice said next to him.

Hiro's eyes fluttered open. "Aunt Cass?"

"Hi sweetheart," she replied, running a hand through his hair.

Hiro closed his eyes and smiled against her touch.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

Hiro looked up at her. He tried to sit up, but when he twisted, he cringed and had to lay back down.

"Sore," he replied.

"I can imagine. You have a broken rib. Baymax patched you up."

"How's Abigail?" Hiro asked.

"She left," Cass replied.

"Gogo? Is she still here?"

Cass frowned. "She…left too."

This time, Hiro frowned. He pushed his head against his pillow and looked up, refusing to let tears fall. He had come back. Barely, but he was here. That moment at the fight when he thought the cannon was going to hit the audience, Hiro was afraid. He didn't want his life to end there, not without telling Gogo how he really felt for her. How much he cared for her. How much her existence meant to him. He had to see her.

"I have to go," Hiro said, this time sitting up slowly and twisting his legs before his torso to reduce pain from his ribs. He was able to swing his legs over the side of the couch and when he tested his feet on the floor, he felt strong enough to stand.

Cass stared at him with an open mouth. "Are you sure you should be up?" she asked.

"My legs are fine Aunt Cass," Hiro reassured her. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a small squeeze. "How about some pancakes? I'm starving."

Cass brightened up at his request. "Coming right up!"

Hiro glanced around for his phone but didn't see it laying around. It must be in his room. The café was closed but a figure stood in the doorway. Hiro wasn't sure who it was, so he went over to it and opened the door.

"Oh Hiro! You're up!" Abigail stood with a brown paper bag in her hands.

"Abigail! It's good to see you. I'm glad you're alright. They didn't hurt you did they?" Hiro asked as he opened the door wider for her to enter.

"No, they didn't hurt…me," she said.

Hiro closed the door softly behind her. He turned toward her. She blushed at the sight of Hiro. Her hand came up, just above Hiro's belly. Her fingers grazed over his bandages. Hiro froze at her touch, realizing that he was still in his clothes from the previous night and his shirt had been cut down the middle leaving his front side exposed. He fumbled with the buttons on his jacket as he started from the bottom and began to close the sides together.

"Abigail," Hiro started as he glanced up at her.

"I'm so sorry!" she cried. She buried her face in her hands. "I should have been stronger."

"Abigail, no. You were fine. I was…it was…I…" Hiro stumbled for the words. "I should have thought this through better and had my friends close as back up. But it's in the past. What's done is done. And we're alive. That's what matters."

She hicked and looked at Hiro. Her make up smudged but she smiled through it. "I am glad you're up and doing better. Here, I didn't know what you liked, so I just got you some hot soup," she said holding out the brown bag.

"Thank you Abigail. Cass is making pancakes. Would you like to stay for breakfast?"

"No, thank you. I need to get going," she excused herself politely. "If you ever need anything, you can call me," she said as she slipped out the door.

Hiro waved at her from inside the café and made his way upstairs.

"Who was that?" Cass called from her spot next to the stove.

"Abigail. She came by to drop this off," Hiro said leaving the soup with his aunt.

"That was kind of her…" Cass said accepting the hot soup. She raised an eyebrow at Hiro.

"It's not like that Aunt Cass," Hiro said.

She nodded and returned to her cooking.

"Really not like that…" Hiro trailed off. He headed up the second flight of stairs, this time stopping at the top and clutching his rib cage. All the moving around made him sorer than he thought. He glanced at Baymax who was charging at his station.

"Ow," he said, activating Baymax.

"Hiro. You should be resting," Baymax said.

"I'm fine," Hiro replied.

"You have a broken rib and stitches on your forehead. Your body needs rest to heal."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to do anything strenuous. I just need to see someone," Hiro replied as he dug around his closet for a clean shirt. He slowly lifted his arms and got the shirt over his head. He chose a new pair of jeans while his old ones thudded as they hit the floor. He picked them up and inspected the pockets. His cell phone had been in his front pocket the entire time. He checked it. It was dead. He didn't have time to charge it. He gathered his jacket and headed out again.

"I am satisfied with my care!" he called over his shoulder.

"Oh! Hiro! Pancakes are ready," Cass called, but Hiro was already past her and headed down the first flight of stairs.

"I'll be right back!" he called.

He pushed open the café door and headed down the street.

 _Just a couple more turns._

His rib cage ached now, but he had to see her.

There! Her apartment building. He sighed when he go to the front door. _More stairs!_ He could make it.

He climbed up. She was on the third floor. He remembered where exactly, even if he had only been here a handful of times. She lived alone in a studio, always embarrassed to have visitors since she didn't have a big place.

He arrived in front of her door. He thought about ringing the doorbell but he hesitated. _What if she doesn't want to see you?_ He winced at the pain in his stomach. His hand went up to his bandages. _Gogo. You promised her._

His knuckles rapped at the door.

He soon heard the clocks click from the inside and the door open. Gogo, in all her natural beauty, stood before him, open mouthed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I had to see you," Hiro said.

She noticed he was still clutching his ribs. Her hands invaded him and lifted his shirt to examine the bandages. Her expression grew grim as she touched his tender wound. Hiro felt a tingling sensation through the bandages where she had touched him. She looked up at him, her hand going to his forehead, her thumb ran over his skin just under his cut.

"If I wasn't such a nice person, I would punch you right now," she said.

"But you are a nice person and you're going to invite me in," Hiro grinned.

Gogo's hip popped and she place her hand on her hip. "Well, come on in," she gestured with her other hand for Hiro to come in.

Hiro was grateful to her for allowing him inside. He immediately went to her bed, which doubled as her couch, and flopped down on his back.

"Excuse me for not sitting up," Hiro said as he let out a shaky breath.

"You're crazy, you know that?" Gogo said walking up to her bed.

Hiro grinned. "I know I'm crazy for you," he said softly.

"What did you say?" Gogo said looking closely at him.

"You heard me. I'm crazy for you," Hiro said again. She opened her mouth to say something, but Hiro held up a hand cutting her off. "Listen, you were right. You, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Fred…you should have all been with me. We're a team and I can't do this without you. I don't _want_ to do this without you, Gogo. I want you by my side. I care about you so much…Gogo, I…"

She was smiling at him. He didn't know how to finish, but it didn't matter. She leaned down and carefully cupped his face. His arm encircled her back and his hand pulled her face down to meet his. Their eyes closed and their lips collided. Hiro's heart leapt in his chest. The kiss was warm and passionate as their lips longed for each other. Neither of them refused to let go. Hiro let his hand fall from her neck and traveled to her chest and rested over her heart. He felt her pulse quicken. She pulled away for a breath, but remained as close as she could to Hiro. Her forehead rested on his. With their eyes closed, they breathed together and exhaled together.

"I made you a promise, and I know I haven't kept many promises with you in the past, but I promise from the bottom of my heart, I will always come back to you," Hiro whispered.

She accepted his promise, sealing his lips in another kiss. He kissed her back with as much passion as he could give. He never wanted to break that promise with her.

"So, what is this?" Gogo asked pulling away to look at Hiro. "Am I your girlfriend now?"

"I would like you to be," Hiro said.

She smiled and replied, "Me too."

They shared and smile and began a small chuckle, but Hiro winced at the movement from the laughter. His hand reached for his bandages.

"You need to rest," Gogo pleaded with him, grasping hold of his hand. "Sleep. I'll wake you in a couple of hours."

Hiro nodded off with a smile planted on his face. He took a long breath and could smell Gogo's scent all around him. He relaxed and drifted off to a very comfortable sleep.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Six weeks had passed since the Steel War Hiro went to with Abigail. He frequently went to Gogo's house for rest and to spend time with her. He learned that she was a decent cook, at least much better at cooking than Hiro and his 'mean ramen'. Living alone meant she knew how to take care of herself and she was even happier to care for Hiro. Now, Hiro's strength had returned and his ribs had fully recovered. Hiro, Gogo, Abigail, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred were currently in Hiro's garage planning their next move. One may wonder why Abigail had been included in this meeting.

"I know someone with a steel bot," Abigail spoke up.

"You _know_ someone…" Gogo commented. "How convenient."

Abigail brushed Gogo's comment aside and continued, "His name is Kai. He was in a bad car accident a while back and now he has brain damage. He hasn't been able to control his bot since, but he's looking for someone to step in for him."

"So what, we just team up with this guy and we're in?" Wasabi questioned.

"We know nothing about him. And how can you still trust _her_ after that incident?!" Gogo asked Hiro, gesturing to Abigail.

Hiro and Abigail both sighed at the same time. Gogo did have a point and it was pretty convenient that Abigail contacted Hiro with this information first. Hiro looked at Gogo. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Hiro, waiting for him to say whatever dared come out of his mouth next.

"Abigail," Hiro finally said. "Would you mind stepping outside and giving us all a minute to talk about this as a team?"

Gogo's expression relaxed. He was thinking about _the team_.

Abigail nodded and politely excused herself. As she exited, Hiro turned to the group.

"What do you guys think?" Hiro asked the group.

"I don't trust her," Gogo said, stating the obvious.

"Wasabi?"

Wasabi shook his head but said, "She has a way in. I say we trust her, for now."

Gogo scoffed. Fred and Honey Lemon nodded in agreement to Wasabi.

"Gogo," Hiro said, taking both of her hands in his. They had made their relationship clear to their friends and Hiro was not afraid of their public display of affection. "We stick together. If Abigail's contact can't get us all in together, as a team, I'll call it off."

Gogo looked at Hiro behind the bangs hiding her eyes. She gave his hands a small squeeze and nodded. What good was their relationship without trust?

"Let's do this!" Fred cheered.

They were all surprised when they met Kai. He was a young man in a wheelchair. Kai was able to train Hiro on his bot by using his computer to program moves and he was very intelligent. Hiro trained in his house with a virtual visor. All steel bot fighters had one. It was how they controlled their bot. Hiro had a lot to learn. Your bot would do anything you wanted it to do, anything you thought, it did it. The bot, Hiro, and Gogo shared a three-way kiss on his first day of training. Gogo wasn't allowed in the room since then while Hiro trained with the bot.

Kai deemed Hiro ready for a fight after his first week of training and was happy to get the whole team into the fight, which also included Abigail.

They arrived at the fight. It was a different location from the fight Hiro and Abigail went to. That ring was for pristine fighters. Hiro had to start at the bottom. This was a smaller fight, but there were still many people there to watch.

Hiro glanced at the crowd from his spot on the ring. Kai's steel bot stood in front of him. Hiro chose to puff out his chest with his arms at his side, head down, and ready for battle-pose. His opponent had his arms up as if he had already taken the victory.

The ring announcer stood in the center, letting the crowd build until he raised his arm to grab the microphone. As he grasped it, the crowd went silent.

Hiro's heart drummed in his chest.

"Let the fight, begin!"

Hiro's opponent was first to act. His arms spun on circles and charged at Hiro. Hiro panicked in the heat of the moment. His bot was frozen as his opponent charged closer.

"Fight Hiro!" Gogo cried.

Hiro focused on her voice and snapped into action. He set his bot in a defensive pose. It was too late to try to dodge the attack. Hiro's bot took the first hit. The crowd cheered. Hiro pushed the other bot away after his recovery. He charged at him, pulling a metal bar (which was essentially a long lead pipe) off his back. He advanced toward his opponent swinging the pipe above his head. Hiro was able to beat it over the head with the pipe before his opponent realized what was happening.

Hiro smiled. He was getting the hang of it, before his opponent swiped his bot's feet under Hiro's bot and brought it down on its back. His opponent sat his bot on top of Hiro's bot and began disassembling its limbs.

Hiro froze, unsure what else was left to do. His bot's legs had been torn off. He couldn't move. Then Hiro saw his opening. He reached up with both arms and grabbed his opponent's chest. His computer chip was covered by a glass box. His opponent didn't do a very good job at hiding his weakness. Then Hiro saw that his own bot had the same glass box on his chest. Hiro frowned. _I'll have to fix that later_ , he thought. He wasted no more time. He broke his opponent's glass. He watched as his opponent stood helplessly trying to make his bot move, but Hiro already removed his chip and tossed it across the ring. His opponent fell over. Hiro pushed his bot up with his arms and the crowd cheered. The ring announcer announced Hiro as the victor. Relief washed over him. He had won his first every steel bot fight. He raised his arms in triumph. He looked behind and saw his friends cheering on his victory.

Hiro smiled.

Back at Kai's house, Hiro was anxious to repair his bot and make some modifications. First he disassembled his bot's inner core. He placed his bot's chip on its back instead of being square in the chest. He put the chip on the left shoulder blade and painted the box so it would blend in with the rest of his body. He didn't want to take a chance that someone else would try to destroy him by taking advantage of his weak spot.

Next, he began making new legs to attach to the body. Hiro sat alone in his garage at his computer making the design for the legs. He didn't hear the door open as Gogo walked down with two coffee mugs in hand. She placed them on a table and wrapped her arms around Hiro's chest as she approached him from behind.

He was startled, but easily relaxed into her embrace and turned his chair around to face her. She was wearing sweat pants and a hoodie. She looked comfy.

"How's it coming?" Gogo asked.

Hiro smiled up at her and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her to straddle him. "Better, now that you're here," he said making her blush.

She sat on his legs and grabbed his neck. "Seems like you need a break."

Hiro gave her a weak nod and smile. She could see small bags under his eyes from over-working. "I brought coffee, and this DVD from Aunt Cass. She says it's a classic," Gogo said pulling the movie out of her hoodie pocket.

Hiro eyed the black and white DVD case and quirked an eyebrow at Gogo. He stood, lifting her with him. He held her under her thighs and she wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the couch. He set her down gently, with a kiss, and turned to retrieve the coffee mugs she brought with her and put them on the table in front of them. She handed him the DVD and he clicked the television on and played the DVD. He sat next to Gogo on the couch and put his arm around her. She leaned into his side as the movie started. They each took a sip of coffee then relaxed together.

 _The Count of Monte Cristo_ began to play. Hiro smiled at her choice of movie. He brushed her bangs away from her eyes, letting his fingers linger on her skin. She gazed up at him and blinked. His hand cupped her head and he slowly leaned down and captured her lips with his. They slowly moved against each other. Both of their bodies touching and becoming warm. Gogo was sure her face was red as a cherry, even two months after they confessed to each other. Hiro continued to romance her until he could fully capture her heart.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Upper cut. Duck and twist. Neck lock. Rib punch. Again. Again. Again. Again.

"We have a winner!" the ring announcer called out.

Hiro fell to his knees in his circle. The fight had completely destroyed his steel bot and he had lost. There was no chance of him winning this fight. He felt Gogo's hand on his back and he let her steer him away from the ring.

"I'm sorry Kai," Hiro apologized to his friend.

Abigail had her hand resting on Kai's shoulder. She gave him a small squeeze. He offered a smile up to Hiro. "I'm sorry your bot was destroyed before you could get a meeting with Jiro," Kai said.

"I'm the one who should be sorry. I destroyed your bot," Hiro replied.

Kai just smiled up at him, "She was close to her end anyways."

"What are we going to do now?" Honey Lemon asked.

"Ooooo! Ooooo! Ooooo! What if we build our own steel bot, make it breathe fire and fly?" Fred asked raising his hand in the air as if Hiro should pick on him to answer the question.

Everyone raised their eyebrows at Fred's response, but it surprised no one.

"Fire and flying aren't allowed in these competitions," Abigail said, squashing his idea.

Fred pouted at Abigail and folded his arms across his chest.

"Building a new bot would take too much time," Hiro said. He brought a fist up to his mouth and chewed on his knuckle. Then he had an idea. It was a crazy idea…but…

"What?" Gogo asked him.

"What about Baymax?" Hiro asked.

"Of course you would suggest Baymax," Gogo said.

"Why not? He can fight! And I know he won't lose," Hiro said.

Gogo nodded in agreement. Hiro looked to the rest of his friends. They were all smiling at him and encouraging him. Even Abigail was smiling at Hiro. He let his eyes linger on Abigail for a moment. He couldn't help but notice that something seemed off about her. Her lips curled up too far and her eyes didn't light up like they used to when he first met her. He let it go for now, but he couldn't get rid of the weird feeling he felt from her.

"I'll go sign us up," Hiro announced. He pulled Gogo with him and they headed to the office building.

They reached the office. The woman at the window had tattoos covering her arms, trailing up her shoulders and onto her neck.

"I'd like to sign up for another fight," Hiro said to her.

"You just lost," she simply said.

"I'll win the next," Hiro replied.

She tilted her head and inhaled sharply. "I'll admit, I've seen some good fights from you kid. How about fighting one of the big boys?"

Hiro nodded.

"Yama. Two weeks from now," was all she said.

Hiro's eyes went wide. He hadn't expected to fight Yama so soon. He wasn't prepared.

"Is there anyone else besides Yama?" Hiro practically pleaded.

The woman held her gaze with him, "Take it or leave it."

He looked to Gogo. She gave him a nod. She believed in him.

"I'll take it."

Baymax didn't take the news well when Hiro told him they would be fighting Yama. But, Baymax trained with Hiro none the less. Hiro had just enough time to finish modifying Baymax's armor for the fight. Apart from his red plates, Hiro added stronger guards to Baymax's suit. Hiro also had to modify his own helmet to communicate with Baymax while he was in the ring. He also improved his old armor to be more flexible and complimentary to Baymax's suit.

His friends also prepared for the fight. They didn't want to take any chances against Yama. Honey Lemon prepared new formulas for her chem balls. Her newest invention was an acidic ball that would eat organic matter upon contact. She made sure this ball was colored black and would only be used in an emergency.

Wasabi was able to manipulate his lasers to extend in shape. His short swords could transform into the preloaded shapes on his arm pad. He just had to select the shape he wanted to use. He made long swords, straight lasers, and a net that connected both of his hands. Anything passing through would be sliced to pieces.

Fred, well Fred remained Fredzilla. His modification was that he could shoot fireballs instead of just a stream of fire from his mouth. His suit was also more closely fitted to his body to give him better mobility.

Gogo was finally satisfied with a metal she created with the least resistance. She wasn't sure exactly the name of it, but it was the fastest she tried so far. She also made more discs that she attached to different parts of her body so she could fling them in a fight.

After two weeks, everyone was finally prepared for the fight. Hiro invited Kai and Abigail to join his team in the pits to watch his fight against Yama.

The arena was the same as the first fight he had seen Yama in with Abigail. He was finally fighting Yama for real. He looked through the crowd. The arena seemed bigger from where he stood in the ring. He barely heard Abigail calling his name. He turned toward her.

"Jiro is here. He's watching the fight from the top box over there," Abigail said, pointing up in the crowd.

Hiro followed her finger point to a spot above the crowd. There was a lit box with a man seated in a chair surrounded by other people who were tending to him. One person lit his cigarette, another poured him a drink.

He heard the audience grow quiet and he turned his attention back to the ring. He said a silent prayer, to no god in particular, that this fight would be fair.

The ring announcer took to the center of the ring.

"Baymax," Hiro said through his helmet.

Baymax stood in a readied position.

"Begin!"

"Let's go Baymax!"

Hiro shouted commands at Baymax and he charged at Yama's bot. Baymax got the first punch in, bringing Yama's bot to his knees. He quickly recovered and attacked Baymax from his side.

"You got this Baymax!" Hiro said into his helmet.

Baymax fought most of the battle on his own. The commands from Hiro were to maneuver Baymax out of danger. Hiro was able to study Yama's bot for a weakness while Baymax took most of the fight. It wasn't until Baymax was pinned down and Yama's bot's back was facing him that he saw a flash of light. There was no mistaking it. The small glass box held his chip.

"Baymax. There's a small glass box on his back. Hit him there. He'll be vulnerable."

Baymax acknowledged his command and pushed Yama's bot off him. He spun around to confuse the bot and was suddenly at his back. Yama's bot turned its head around and grabbed Baymax by his head and squeezed with as much force as it could muster.

"Punch its back Baymax!" Hiro shouted.

Baymax was incapacitated.

"Come on Baymax!"

Baymax tried so hard to move his arms but couldn't. Hiro felt his heart rate go up. He was going to lose this fight. He had to think of something quick.

"Baymax, can you use your thrusters?" Hiro asked.

Baymax suddenly activated his thrusters and slowly lifted himself up, off the ring's floor. Yama's bot held on but lost his grip. He arms slid from Baymax's head.

"Hiro, I cannot see," Baymax said.

"That's ok buddy, just hang in there. When you land, give a hard punch directly in front of you. You'll hit his chip and we'll win," Hiro said.

Baymax landed on the ground and punched in front of him, but he didn't see the sword cutting through his body. The moment his fist connected with Yama's bot, it jolted, bringing its sword arm to slice one last time through Baymax's core. He had severed Baymax's infrastructure before it fell to its back. The crowd went silent as Baymax also fell to the ground.

The ring announcer stepped into the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen-"

A small man ran on stage to consult with the ring announcer. He covered the microphone and had a silent argument with the man. Hiro looked over to Yama who look just as confused as him. He looked back and saw the ring announcer looking up to where Jiro had been sitting. Jiro was now standing in his box and began descending the steps toward the ring.

Hiro watched as Jiro stepped into the ring. He was lean. He didn't look very old, but he looked…intimidating, like he had a lot of experience. His long fingers grasped the microphone from the ceiling.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Jiro began. He had a heavy Asian accent. His black beady eyes stared at Hiro, then at Yama. "We have a tie," he simply said.

Yama was outraged. He threw his visor down and stepped into the ring. Jiro stopped him immediately. He shaped his free hand into a gun and pointed it at Jiro. "Ie, Yama."

Yama stopped his advance and huffed. Hiro didn't understand what he said.

"Hiro," Jiro said turning to him. Hiro stepped into the ring next to Baymax. "You have an impressive _bot_. This is your fighting companion, Baymax, is he not?" he said touching Baymax's crushed head.

Hiro nodded in reply.

Jiro smiled briefly and dropped his hand.

"I would very much like to see him in battle again," Jiro said before turning and walking off stage.

Hiro froze. He finally had his way in. Jiro noticed him. He was anxious to see who his next opponent would be.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Aunt Cass had caught wind of the group's participation in the steel bot fight and had fresh pastries and coffee ready for them. Everyone was excited to see the treats she had prepared for them. Fred, who couldn't contain his happiness, gave Cass a tight hug. Cass laughed and encouraged everyone to dig in.

First thing Hiro did before joining his friends when he got home, was to take apart Baymax's armor. He trashed the unrepairable pieces and set the other pieces aside for a later inspection. Baymax had a tear in his side that needed a quick patch, then he put Baymax on his charging station and returned to his friends.

Hiro slipped his arm around Gogo's waist and pulled her close to him. They waited at the back of the food line that formed in the kitchen. She smiled at him as she looked up. They were both relieved that nothing more happened because of Yama or Jiro.

Hiro reached over her and pulled two mugs from the cupboard and poured coffee into both cups. He fixed Gogo's coffee first, then tended to his own. They clinked their mugs together in a silent victory toast and took a sip. At least Hiro considered tonight a victory. He did what he set out to do, get the attention of the Inagura clan.

Hiro noticed Fred from the corner of his eye. Fred was holding two plates of pastries and Honey Lemon was holding their cups. He leaned in for a quick kiss from Honey Lemon, then they retreated to the couch.

Wasabi was deep in a conversation with Abigail about his invention. Hiro knew Abigail wasn't interested in him, but she laughed at his jokes anyways.

Hiro's mind wandered back to that look he had seen on Abigail's face earlier. His brow furrowed as his mind wandered. He wasn't sure he trusted her. Gogo was right. She was _convenient_. That one word lingered in his mind.

Gogo's hand brushing against his cheek pulled him from his thoughts.

"Let's go somewhere quieter," she whispered.

Hiro nodded. He was glad she had made that suggestion and let her pull him up to his room. They had spent a lot of time at his house and in his room, but he was suddenly embarrassed to be alone with her. In his room.

"What is it?" Gogo asked clearly sensing his embarrassment.

"Nothing!" Hiro croaked covering his mouth and tucking his other arm under his elbow.

"Huh," she turned around. Gogo's eyes traveled over the divider that once divided Hiro's side of the room from Tadashi's. She shook her head. He should have moved Tadashi's stuff out long ago. She let out what she thought was a silent sigh.

"Gogo?" Hiro asked behind her. She didn't turn around so Hiro pulled her against him from behind. "Thank you."

"For what?" she asked.

"For being with me," Hiro simply said.

She spun around and raised an eyebrow at him. "You mean as a team? Or something more?"

Hiro smiled. "Both. But I'm glad _you_ are here with me."

"Me too," she said, stepping closer to him.

They were inches away from each other now. He cupped her cheek, inviting her into him as he leaned down and captured her lips with his. He felt her body inhale, then she grasped both of his arms. Their lips parted and moved against each other, both enjoying the taste of the other. Gogo's tongue pushed through his lips and he twitched with desire to continue to kiss her. He was pushing her back toward his bed. Her knees hit his mattress and she sat down on the bed, Hiro not missing a beat and following her down, still kissing her.

She leaned back onto her elbows and invited Hiro to fall on top of her. He placed both hands on either side of her and leaned down to kiss her neck. She gasped and felt a tingling sensation wash over her body. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back giving Hiro room to travel to the other side of her neck. His lips brushed on her collar bone and traveled slowly to the crevice of her breasts. He could feel her chest rise and fall with her breath and it stirred a fire in his stomach. He glanced up at Gogo and saw her beautiful face flushed red. He knew what his movements were doing to her just as they were doing to him.

His hand brushed the bangs from her face and captured her lips again. Hiro felt a pressure in his pants, he knew she felt it too, and moaned quietly against her before he pulled away.

"What's wrong?" Gogo breathed as his lips left hers.

"I…I don't want to…no, that's not true…I care about you so much…I…let's just take this slow," he panted.

Gogo smiled her biggest smile at him and felt her heart leap with joy in her chest at how respectable he was being. They both knew they wanted this, but this was not the time with all their friends down stairs. Gogo pulled him into a hug and he let his body rest on top of her.

"Come on, let's just sleep here," Gogo said as she pushed herself reluctantly away from Hiro. She situated herself on one side of Hiro's bed and climbed under his covers. She could smell all of him and she inhaled deeply, memorizing his scent.

He pulled the covers on the other side and climbed in next to her. She softly kissed him, then turned her back to him and curled into his embrace. They stayed this way the rest of the night.

"Hiro!"

His name being call by Aunt Cass is what woke him and Gogo from their sleep.

"Wake up right now Hiro!" Aunt Cass called behind his door.

Hiro rubbed his eyes and kissed Gogo's hair before he crawled out of bed.

"What is it Aunt Cass?" he asked through half open eyes.

"Get suited up! There's several explosions that happened this morning and now half the warehouses on the coast are on fire! You need to get out there and help save as many people as you can. The fire department called in back up but there's still not enough people to help!"

Hiro's mind registered what Cass was finally saying and he turned to his bed and saw that Gogo had sat up when she heard the news as well.

"Go get Baymax. I'll inform the others," Gogo said.

He nodded and moved through the door, past Aunt Cass and headed down to his garage.

He pushed open the door and grabbed the armor parts he had left determining what he could use on Baymax. He turned to the charging station and everything fell from his hands, clattering onto the floor.

Baymax was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"Gogo!" Hiro called as he ran upstairs.

"What is it?" Gogo asked holding her phone away from her face.

"Baymax, he's gone," Hiro said.

"What?"

"He's not on his charging station," Hiro said.

"Well he must be around," Gogo tried to reassure Hiro.

Hiro's face fell as he ran through the events of last night while Gogo finished her call to Fred and Honey Lemon. The fight came to a draw with Yama, Jiro announced the draw, then party at the café. What else was there? What was Hiro missing? Baymax wouldn't just leave, unless…unless maybe the fight messed up his data and he thought it was Monday and he went to the clinic by himself, but Hiro always dropped him off. The clinic. He could start there, but Hiro doubted he would be there.

Hiro hung up with the clinic, confirming his suspicion correct. If Baymax hadn't gone to the clinic, then where was he? He checked the garage again.

He looked at the charging station and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. All his computers looked normal and everything was where he left it. He glanced at the garage door. The latching mechanism was unlocked which meant that someone had opened it from the inside. But, who? Gogo was with Hiro all night and there was no way Aunt Cass would take Baymax. Fred and Honey Lemon left early, probably to head back to Fred's place. That left Wasabi. But Wasabi would never steal from Hiro. What motive would he have?

Abigail.

Hiro remembered watching her with Wasabi and the weird smile she gave the other day. She was the odd one out. The group had just met her and she was _convenient._ But why would she want Baymax?

Hiro needed to talk to her. He pulled out his cell and dialed her number. An empty tone rang out from the other end of the line.

"Huh," Hiro said to himself. How _convenient_ that her cell phone doesn't work. Hiro grabbed his gear and stuffed it in a bag in hopes that they might find Baymax. He spun around and headed upstairs. There were burning buildings and people that needed to be saved.

Hiro drove Gogo on the back of his motorcycle to the site where the explosions had happened. The fire department had put out most of the fires in the buildings when they arrived. Wasabi pulled his car next to Hiro's bike with Fred and Honey Lemon in tow.

"Alright," Hiro called the group to gather around him as he laid out the plan. "Honey Lemon, I need you to be first in those buildings. Use as many freeze chem balls as you can on the open fires inside and go clockwise through the building. I'll let the fire department know your route. Fred you go with her and jump up to the second and third stories. The stairs will probably be inaccessible. Keep in mind that the wood will be burnt and brittle. The building could collapse. Honey Lemon, you need to stop that from happening with your chem balls if you are inside."

Fred and Honey Lemon nodded in agreement.

"Wasabi, you should go with Honey Lemon and help her carry people if there is anyone trapped inside."

Wasabi nodded.

"Gogo, I need to you search the outside of all the buildings. Check for irregularities. I'll talk with the police and fire department and see what they know. Maybe we can help them and they can help us. Let's find out who did this, but first make sure anyone still alive is safe," Hiro finished looking at each of his team mates.

"Let's do this!" Fred said excitedly.

"Wait, where's Baymax?" Honey Lemon asked Hiro.

Hiro shook his head, his gaze on the ground, "I don't know."

Honey Lemon looked to Gogo who gave the same answer.

"Let's not waste any more time. Let's go," Hiro said, and the group disbanded.

Hiro didn't get any new information from the police or fire department. They knew as much as their group did. Hiro sighed and headed back to the cars. He felt helpless without Baymax. Sure he knew karate, but for times like these, karate was pointless. Baymax was most helpful in these types of search and rescue missions. Hiro began to wonder what was so special about him? He rode Baymax and guided him and taught him, but in a group, he was a nobody. This realization hit him like a strong wave, crashing in the ocean. What was Hiro's purpose without Baymax?

He watched as Gogo returned to his side reporting nothing suspicious. Hiro decided not to worry Gogo with his thoughts and kept them to himself. He watched from a distance as Wasabi carried a person to the fire department's ambulance with Fred and Honey Lemon walking closely behind him and they made their way over to Hiro and Gogo.

"Well, did we save some people?" Hiro asked.

"Just one," Honey Lemon said.

"One? Only one person was alive?" Hiro asked.

"There were no other bodies and she was tied to a chair in the middle warehouse. The other two buildings were empty," Honey Lemon said.

"Looks like someone was trying to send a message," Fred added.

"What do you mean?" Hiro asked.

"It's Abigail," Wasabi said.

"What?" Hiro asked more confuse now.

"It was Abigail that I untied and carried to the ambulance," Wasabi said.

What?

Hiro turned toward the ambulance and rushed to it, ignoring his friends calling his name. He pushed past some firemen and spotted Abigail wrapped in a safety blanket, sitting on the back of the ambulance. She offered Hiro a weak smile, one that he did not return. Just this morning he had suspected her of taking Baymax, but now he wasn't so sure she did.

"Abigail," Hiro said.

"She'll have a hard time talking for a while. Her lungs are filled with smoke," a medic informed Hiro.

"What happened Abigail? Who did this to you?" Hiro questioned her. He was going to get answers from her.

Abigail did not answer him at first, instead she gave him a scared look, like she was afraid to tell him.

"Abigail!" Hiro said her name harsher.

She looked away.

"Jiro."

Hiro did think her heard her correctly. Jiro? Why would Jiro do this to Abigail?

"Why?" Hiro asked.

Abigail shook her head. She refused to answer him.

"Abigail, I need you to tell me why Jiro did this," Hiro demanded. By now his friends had joined him and were waiting for Abigail to answer as well when they heard Hiro ask about Jiro.

Abigail let out a long sigh and looked up at Hiro. "Please sit down with me and I will tell you."

Hiro did as she asked.

"I betrayed him," she said to Hiro in a soft whisper. "I was…working…for Jiro. More like representing his clan at the bot fights. But you came along with Baymax to that bot fight. One of Jiro's men was with me and forced me to lose my next game so I could talk to you. So I invited you to the steel wars in hopes that you would eventually use Baymax in a fight."

"You took Baymax from me," Hiro said coldly.

"No! I didn't!" Abigail exclaimed. "Please listen to me! I didn't go through with it. Jiro wanted me to steal Baymax from you last night but I refused. You were too good a friend to me and I couldn't betray you like that."

"You've been betraying me all this time! Why should last night be any different?" Hiro said raising his voice.

"Hiro, I didn't take Baymax," Abigail said.

"Oh yeah? Then where is he?"

Abigail sighed. "Last night, at the end of the fight. Jiro touched Baymax. That touch was Jiro planting a chip on Baymax to control him. He must have activated the chip during the night and made Baymax go to him."

Hiro's mind flashed to the end scene of the fight when Jiro was on the stage. That touch had meant nothing important to Hiro at the time, but now all he could focus on was that image. Was Abigail really telling the truth? He wanted to believe her. He wanted to believe that Jiro would burn down three buildings with Abigail inside, but it seemed so extreme.

"Why did Jiro burn down three buildings with you inside?"

"Because I betrayed him," Abigail said.

"That's kind of extreme for a betrayal," Hiro said.

Abigail sighed again. "This wasn't the first time I betrayed him, but he wanted to make sure it was the last time I betrayed him."

Hiro didn't know what else to say to Abigail so he remained quiet.

"Funny coincidence huh?" Abigail asked.

"What was?" Hiro asked.

"That you came to a bot fight looking for a way to Jiro and Jiro had already wanted something you had. Why were you looking for Jiro?" she asked.

"He took a man's daughter from him. I was going to get her back," Hiro replied.

"Jiro takes and uses a lot of girls," Abigail added.

That comment made Hiro's blood boil. "Do you know where the girls are?"

"No, but I know the head mistress. She could help you find who you're looking for."

"This just became greater than one girl," Hiro said standing up. "I'll contact you," he said walking away. His friends followed silently behind him.

He swung his leg over his bike and waited as Gogo adjusted her helmet on her head, then he sped off with her clinging to his back.

She trusted Hiro, but she couldn't help that feeling in the pit of her stomach as he violently drove through the streets. She had no idea where they were going. Hiro just drove.


End file.
